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Información de COVID-19
Watch Bishop Cary's Other Video Updates
6-30-2020: Memo to clergy in accordance with the Governor of Oregon's mandate on wearing of face masks.6-5-2020: Diocese of Baker entering Phase 2. Video message from Bishop Cary June 5, 2020
5-7-2020 Decree: Update of Decrees of 19 March 2020 and 7 April 2020
On Measures in Response to the COVID-19 Threat See Bishop Cary's Decree below.
4-23-2020 Update: Bishop Cary's letter to the Deschutes County Commissioners and State Senators in the Diocese of Baker in response to the Governor's reopening plan. Read more below.4-7-2020 Decree: In accordance with the Governor of Oregon's mandate of no gatherings larger than 25 people. See Bishop Cary's Decree below.
We are following the situation closely. As it continues to develop, we will do our best to communicate with you. Updates will be provided here as they become available.
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MEMO
TO: The priests of the Diocese of Baker
FROM: Bishop Cary
DATE: 30 June 2020
Dear Brother Priests,
On 29 June Governor Brown announced that throughout the state Oregonians will be required to wear face coverings in public places as of 1 July. Please advise your parishioners of this and continue our practice of encouraging them to wear masks.
Those who are reluctant to do so, we should treat with patience and kindness; no one should be turned away from church. As previously stated, priests are not to wear a mask while celebrating Mass.
Official Memo in pdf -
DECREE
OPENING PARISH CHURCHES
TO THE CELEBRATION OF PUBLIC MASSUpdate of Decrees of 19 March 2020 and 7 April 2020
On Measures in Response to the COVID-19 Threat
Whereas Governor Kate Brown has set in motion a phased-in loosening of social gathering restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus;
Whereas County Commissioners throughout Oregon are currently proposing detailed revisions to those directives;
This is an appropriate time to begin the re-opening of Catholic worship, with diligent precaution for the danger the virus poses to those most vulnerable to infection.
Therefore, in virtue of my duty to direct, promote, and guard the liturgical life of the Diocese of Baker, I hereby revoke the 19 March and 7 April cancellations of all public Masses within the territory of the Diocese, and I decree that priests are free to commence public celebration of the Eucharist in their churches on Monday, 11 May 2020.
I further decree that a basic component of the March and April decrees remains in effect: “all the faithful of the Diocese of Baker and others actually present in the Diocese are dispensed from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and other holy days of obligation” (c. 1247). Those whom space does not allow to go to Sunday Mass must keep the spirit of the Lord’s Day by refraining from work and devoting time to prayer. They would do well to watch a livestreamed Mass and make a spiritual communion. They should also take advantage of the opportunity to reserve a place at Mass during the week.
I hereby encourage yet again all vulnerable, at-risk, and seriously worried people to stay home and not expose themselves to the danger of infection. Anyone with the slightest symptoms or feelings of sickness must stay home so as not to infect others.
When Masses resume, priests must take care to observe the “COVID-19 Guidance for Faith Communities” issued by the Oregon Health Authority 9 April 2020, which specifically allows religious services for no more than 25 people with strict social distancing. A parish that is unable to maintain strict social distancing cannot open Masses to the public until it is able to do so.
A document of mine sent to the priests on 30 April 2020 (“Re-opening of Masses to the Public”) contains practical instructions to insure congregational safety and distribute Mass attendance evenly throughout the week. Two of these are worthy of note here: the wearing of face masks at Mass is strongly encouraged, and members of a single household may sit together without observing social distancing with one another.
I order that this decree and dispensation be made known to all concerned, especially pastors and administrators.
This decree takes effect immediately.
Given at the Pastoral Center of the Diocese of Baker this 7th day of May 2020, everything to the contrary notwithstanding.
Most Reverend Liam Cary
Bishop of Baker
(Seal)
Very Reverend Richard O. FischerVicar General -
23 April 2020
Tony DeBone, Patti Adair, and Phil Henderson
Deschutes County Commissioners
tonyd@deschutes.org
Dear Commissioners DeBone, Adair, and Henderson,
I write to request your assistance in the official re-opening of COVID-19 restrictions on religious services in Oregon.
As bishop of the Diocese of Baker I have oversight responsibility for the 57 Catholic parishes and mission east of the Cascades to the Idaho border, and south of the Columbia River to California. A handful of our churches have sizeable congregations (Bend, Klamath Falls, Hermiston, Redmond); most are much smaller (Prineville, Burns, Lakeview); and a number are very small indeed (Jordan Valley, Wasco). The space and seating available to accommodate such varied Sunday Mass populations varies greatly from one town to another, as do the possibilities of arranging them differently and safely.
Whatever their size, however, for the past month each and every church in the Baker Diocese has faithfully observed Governor Brown’s social gathering orders. On 19 March I announced the cancellation of all public Masses within the diocese, and that decree remains in effect until further notice.
Our parishioners accept the Governor’s guidelines as a temporary necessity to contain coronavirus because they appreciate the gravity of the COVID threat. But as the weeks go by and we all get used to social distancing in supermarkets and pharmacies, Catholics increasingly feel the need prudently to phase in larger social gathering numbers for churches, comparable to those which other much-visited institutions have learned to live within—or will soon be permitted to open up to.
Looking ahead to that possibility, I have asked each pastor to draw up plans to seat safely in his church various numbers of people that might be allowed to gather there at a time (25, 50, 75, 100, 250). Drawing on his parishioners’ common sense and common self-interest, how would he partition his church in a way that effectively enforces social distancing? Like people on the way to the grocery store, our parishioners know what it takes to “guarantee” their safety in public these days. They will rightly insist on the same precautions in worship, and that assurance we mean to give them.
We are in a crisis, and the Governor is responsible to protect the common good of the whole state, which includes the good of religious worship. The Governor has wisely invited the “most- affected” industries to contribute their informed input to the decision of how and when best to open up their “sector” of the economy. Should she not seek the informed counsel of religious believers about the optimal ways of opening up their distinctive sector of society?
Regrettably, her “Reopening Oregon” framework of 20 April shows no interest in conducting such an inquiry. The section on “Specific Types of Employers” contrasts the Phase One Federal criteria that allow the opening up of “large venues” like churches (“strict physical distancing and sanitation protocols”) with “Oregon Modifications Under Consideration” (“Likely remain closed during Phase One”). Later, in “For Discussion—Under Consideration” for Oregon, we learn of “sector-specific discussions” beginning 20 April, a “next step” to “consult with most-affected industries” that commenced on 17 April, and “workgroups for six sectors being established” on a date unspecified. In each of these listings the same candidates for consultation rightly appear: restaurants, retail, childcare, personal services, transit, and outdoor recreation; in none of them do we read the word “churches.” I am hoping you will agree this is an oversight in need of swift and sincere repair and that you will work to give churches a voice in their reopening just as hair and nail salons, and massage and tattoo parlors have been granted in theirs.
To give priority for reopening to “essential” over “non-essential” businesses is to ask the wrong question, one writer observed. What counts is not whether a business is essential or non-essential but whether it can be run safely.
Boeing is calling back 20,000 workers to what must be a socially distanced job site reasonably certain to keep COVID at bay. It shouldn’t be too much to ask that churches be given the chance to demonstrate the same possibility on a much smaller-scale.
Thank you in advance for your kind attention to this request.Respectfully,
Bishop Liam Cary -
DECREE
UPDATE OF DECREE OF 19 MARCH 2020
ON MEASURES IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 THREATWhereas it is impossible to know at this date how long the national guidelines on social distancing and Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s prohibition of groups larger than 25 persons will remain in effect, the cancellation of public Masses within The Diocese of Baker is hereby extended from 14 April 2020 to “until further notice.” The dispensation of all the faithful in The Diocese of Baker and other Catholics actually present in The Diocese is likewise extended indefinitely.
I order that this decree and dispensation be made known to all concerned, especially pastors and administrators.
This decree and dispensation take effect immediately.
Given at the Pastoral Center of The Diocese of Baker this 7th day of April 2020, everything to the contrary notwithstanding.
Most Reverend Liam Cary
Bishop of Baker
(Seal)
Very Reverend Richard O. Fischer
Vicar General
Decree (pdf)
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1. "The Easter Triduum . . . cannot be transferred to another time.”
26 March 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Diocese of Baker,
Grace to you and peace in the midst of world-shaking uncertainty. I hope this finds you in good health and, more importantly, in good spirits, as we continue our journey to Easter through a Lent like no other.
I write to update you on important information regarding upcoming liturgical celebrations from the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome. (Quotations in the following paragraphs are from the official document unless otherwise specified.)
2. The local bishop may postpone the Chrism Mass to a later date, and that is what this bishop is doing. We’ll wait until the crisis has passed and all the priests can gather fearlessly for the renewal of priestly promises and the blessing of the holy oils. When that will be, no one can say. But the day will come! And we hope you can too.
3. With regard to the Holy Week, “in the Cathedral and in parish churches, though without the physical participation of the faithful, the Bishop and parish priest(s) can celebrate the liturgical mysteries” on the three holy days. “The faithful should be informed of the times of the celebration so that they can prayerfully unite themselves in their homes.” For these occasions “live (not recorded) televisual or internet broadcasts are helpful.”
4. Holy Thursday. “The faculty to celebrate Mass on this day in a suitable place, without the people, is granted in an exceptional manner to all priests. The washing of feet . . . is to be omitted. At the end of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper the procession with the Blessed Sacrament to the place of repose is to be omitted and the Blessed Sacrament is to be kept in the tabernacle.”
5. Good Friday. Insofar as “there is a real possibility of doing so” (that is, without exceeding the number of people permitted at social gatherings when that day comes), “the Bishop/Parish Priest will celebrate the Passion of the Lord. In the Universal Prayer, the Bishop will see to it that there is a special intention for the sick, the dead, for those who feel lost or dismayed.”
6. Easter Vigil. Here too it will be necessary to respect the social gathering limits in force at the time in selecting a much reduced number of servers and lectors. “At ‘The Solemn Beginning of the Vigil’ the preparation and lighting of the fire is omitted, the Paschal Candle is lit, the procession is omitted and the Easter Proclamation (Exsultet) follows. The ‘Liturgy of the Word’ then takes place” as usual. “For the ‘Baptismal Liturgy’ the ‘Renewal of Baptismal Promises’ alone is necessary. The ‘Liturgy of the Eucharist’ then follows.”
7. Easter Sunday. Mass will be celebrated as usual, but without the presence of the people.In a recent memo Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford, Chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, had some additional clarifications. For the Adoration of the Holy Cross on Good Friday, he suggested, “it will surely be best, if more than one person is assisting, to express reverence to the Cross without kissing or touching it. A genuflection or profound bow would be appropriate.”
With regard to the RCIA, Archbishop Blair notes that the Rite itself “includes provision for a delay in the celebration of the sacraments” and other options such as the following:
“the bishop can dispense from the Scrutinies . . . ;” he “can permit an abbreviated form of initiation . . . ; and the rites can be celebrated at other times of the year.” This bishop elects to do all of the above. Therefore, the Rites of Initiation for the 2020 Easter Vigil will not take place in the Diocese of Baker until pastors receive the go-ahead from the bishop. Once we know when it will be possible again to assemble together in Church, each parish will be free to work out its own schedule of initiation to best accommodate its own particular circumstances. We will not attempt to replicate the Easter Vigil—every parish celebrating on the same date—but rather each parish will choose the best date for itself.
Finally, a word about Confirmations. We will not adhere to the current schedule, and there are too many uncertainties to put together another one at present. The new arrangements will probably involve a mixture of my delegating individual pastors to confirm their own parishioners with deanery-wide celebrations (multiple parishes at one time) at which I will officiate. More details when they become possible to devise.
I hope this letter has clarified some uncertainties and relieved some anxieties. There are more than enough of both floating around in the COVID-19 world. But God knows how to bring us through them to peace in His will. Let us pray for the wisdom to follow His lead.
In Christ our Redeemer,
Most Reverend Liam Cary
Bishop of Baker -
March 18, 2020
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
It’s hard to keep pace with the corona virus. The letter I wrote you last week on 13 March limiting Mass attendance to 250 people was out of date only a few days later, when Governor Brown’s directive of 16 March lowered the number for social gatherings in Oregon to 25 for the next four weeks, with the recommendation that it be capped at 10.
It is not realistically possible to restrict the populations of our Sunday assemblies to these numbers; therefore, with great reluctance, I must tell you that all public Masses throughout the Diocese are cancelled through 14 April 2020, and all the faithful of the Diocese of Baker are hereby dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass during that time.
I take this most unwelcome decision in concert with my fellow bishops throughout the Northwest and much of the United States. With them I recognize that in a time of public emergency it is the government’s paramount responsibility to protect the common good of its citizens, and never more so than when their health and their very lives are gravely endangered.
This year the danger falls during Holy Week and Easter, the most sacred days on our calendar; so the empty churches are painfully difficult to bear. But the Holy Spirit is very much at work in our midst. Throughout the country people are coming up with ways to give us access to the Holy Mysteries even as we are cut off from them. In the parishes and in the Pastoral Center possibilities are beginning to emerge. Our findings will be posted on the diocesan website (www.dioceseofbaker.org) and will be updated frequently. Please come and visit to learn how you can profit spiritually from this season of grace.
Our Lord fasted forty days and forty nights, “and He was hungry.” Lent 2020 brings home to us as never before how we hunger for the Bread of Life and the Word of Salvation. “I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,” Jesus promises. “I will not leave you orphans.” Recent statistics on COVID-19 show one number is rising: those who have recovered from the virus. Lent leads to Resurrection.In Christ our Redeemer,
Most Reverend Liam Cary
Bishop of BakerLetter (pdf) and Decree (pdf) in English